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Good morning,I Hope you have all had a fab week.My week has been filled with special commissions, London trips and new books!I've been working on a new house portrait that is going to be turned into something a bit different, it's not being framed. I can't give away too much now but I'm excited to see the final piece. I will share it when I can!On Friday the other half and I went to London to see Kevin Bridges in the evening and have a day seeing the sites. (A bit of a bus mans holiday for him as he works in London all week!).

Anywhoo we visited the Tate Modern which brought back memories of trekking around it at school and then later at University (I studied Fine Art at uni!). But this time I was more excited by what I found in the gift shop...

I found this gorgeous children's book filled with wonderful illustrations of high street buildings. I love it, it's filled with tons of inspiration for me! I've also been experimenting with adding an extra personal touch to my house and venue portraits. I've been working on adding the name of the couple getting married and the date or the house name and street.

Good morning,I don't know about where you are, but the sun is shining in Wiltshire today. Finally, YIPEEE! Today's Sunday Post is going to be a little bit different. I'm going to show you the stages of each house portrait.I first ask for a photograph of the house. As straight on as possible is best, but if it's slightly off I can still work with it.

If the photograph is straight on I trace it on to a piece of squared paper. As this one is not quite face on I draw it out without tracing. It's at this point that I select which details I'm going to include. You can definitely say what you would like me to include if there are certain details.

After I have drawn it onto the squared paper I ink it in so the lines are dark enough to see through the fabric. I then use a light box to trace it on to the fabric ready for stitching.

I hoop up my fabric so it's drum tight and start stitching over my pencil lines. This is when the fear sets in, but I love it. As I use freehand machine embroidery the lines just have a lovely wobbly quality - I never know quite how it's going to go. I often hold my breath without realising when I start (which is not ideal!) but I soon get into the flow.

I then choose the fabric for the front door. I try to choose a similar colour, but with a fun pattern on! This then gets stitched on.

Finally I frame it up, give it a polish and photograph it. Then it's ready to pack up nice and snug in bubble wrap and polka dotty tissue.

And there you have it! So each portrait takes quite a lot of time, but you know what, I love doing them. If you are interested in having one done please contact me here.